2012 Senior Queens kicks off Friday

ARLINGTON, Texas - The top senior women bowlers in the country will descend upon the International Training and Research Center starting Friday to compete in the 2012 United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens presented by Storm.

The Senior Queens, which will be contested for the 13th time, will feature a change this year with the final four players in the bracket taking part in the stepladder finals, which will be broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV on Oct. 23 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

"Having the stepladder finals will add another layer of excitement to this event and should make for a great show for those watching on BowlTV," USBC Managing Director of Membership and Events Pete Tredwell said.

The event begins Friday with the first of three days of qualifying. After 15 games of qualifying, the field will be cut to the top 16 for the double-elimination match-play bracket.

Defending champion Paula Vidad of Sun City, Calif., will be tested in her title defense by a strong field that includes seven USBC Hall of Fame members. Vidad's road to the title is a little easier, however, as she is guaranteed a spot in the match-play bracket.

BowlTV will have free live streaming coverage of every round of the competition, starting Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern with the opening squad of qualifying.

The Senior Queens also caps off the Senior Women's Triple Crown Series, which is a special competition for bowlers who compete in the Senior Queens, Senior U.S. Women's Open and National Golden Ladies Classic.

The top 10 players in the Triple Crown standings, which combines qualifying totals from all three events, will take part in the Triple Crown Shoot-Out presented by The Orleans live on BowlTV on Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern.